cpr

[Dolores Lindvall]

Okay, this did not happen to a rabbit.This happened with my 10.2 ounce baby boy skunk. Theexperts can tell if it would work on a rabbit.

Last night, my little boy (not named yet...I like to see what kind ofpersonality, etc. shows up before I name) fell off of thetable. He has done this a couple of times before and beenjust fine...always landingon his feet. I had himoccupied with food...turned my back for just a minute, and there hewas.....on his back this time...kicking his little feet likecrazy. I grabbed him up, and he went limp...no breathcoming. I was just sick!.....Immediately started gentle, butfirm chest compressions. Pretty soon, he started comingaround. I kept doing the chest compressions for a fewminutes. Within about 15 minutes, he was scooting around onthe floor playing with Emmy, 3 1/2 month old kitten I raised frombefore her eyes were open. Thank you, God!

Don't know if he just had the breath knocked out of him or what, but it is a very scarey situation!!!

 

[Delphinum]

OMG Dolores! Well done you! I'll remember that in future though!

 

[Loz n Ebony]

WOW THAT IS TO COOL!! you no there have been alot of stories about people resusitating their pets lately. In fact Iheard a story about a women who gave mouth to mouth to her goldfish(Well actually she used a straw)

-L

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

Well, guess what.....I have given mouth to mouthto new born lambs and to new born piglets. You just have tobe really careful and give small "puffs" or you can blow up theirlungs. But I've never given mouth to mouth on anybody assmall as 10.2 ounces.....was actually scared to. He'sjust fine today.....been chasing and wrestling with Emmy just likenothing ever happened!

 

[trekcip5]

We have breathed life into new born kits who wereborn on the wire and were cold, limp and not breathing. Webring them in, massage them and use towels heated in themicrowave. If they don't come around right away, I have blow,very gently into the mouth and nose and several times it has worked,sometimes not, but it is always worth a try. Donna

 

[Sarah]

Dolores, I would love to know more about yourskunk! Is he a house pet? What does he eat? Does he cuddle? What aboutthe spraying thing? Sorry if the questions are sort of doofy. I'venever heard of a skunk as a house pet, and it sounds as if it hasadorable possibilities.

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

About the kits found on the wire.....It getspretty darn cold in this part of the country. Once-in-awhile,I would find kits on the wire in the wintertime. Of course, they were not breathing, andso cold as to actually feel stiff. I warmed them in warmwater...holding them so just their little nose was above thewater. If the water is too warm for your hands, then it's toowarm for the kits. And, I'd not only hold them in the warmwater, but I'd be massaging, moving them, too. After theystarted coming around...moving and making that little squeakysound...then I'd dry them off with a wash cloth, and put themin a box with pine shavings that I used in the nest boxes and rabbithair that I had saved back, maybe from a false pregnancy, or in thesummer time when all that hair wasn't needed. (I've heardthat wool yarn works pretty well for something like this,also.) I had a heating pad under the box. You don'tever want to turn it on high, and you need to keep checking onthem!!! I usually fed them a little bit of warmed evaporatedmilk with the medicine dropper before taking them back out to theirmom. This was just so they would have a little warm energy intheir bellies and have the strength tonurse.Before an elderly gentleman, who had raised rabbits for years told meabout this "wet way", I'd never have thought to try it. But Ifigured, what the heck? I actually think that they warm morethroughly this way, but that is my personal opinion.

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

Well, tell you what, Sarah, skunks are greathouse pets/companions. But, they are not foreveryone. In a way, it's kind of like living with a perpetualtwo year old.....I want to eat now. I want to playnow. I want to sleep now. It's anow thing. They can be pretty darnstubborn. They arealso very strong for theirsize. Their main diet consists of vegetables, with a fewother things. Thereis no "skunk food" that you cango to the store and buy, like for the rabbits. You have tospend the time in fixing their food.

Do they cuddle? Oh, yes!!! This little guy is mysecond one. Baby was my first, and I had her for 3 1/2years. She died in my arms around 1:30 a.m. on November 8thof last year. I don't know why. She had the run ofthe house.....had her potty box. Skunks are pretty muchnocturnal, so I had to confine her to the bathroom at night, or shewould keep yanking on the covers of my bed! We alwayshad our cuddle time at night after her "supper". (Ihad the cleanest ears in the country from her skunkiekisses.) Right now, I'm trying to type this with myskunkie and two cats on my lap. He uses a potty box, too.

If you get a skunk from a fur farm, they are alreadydescented. You do have to spay and neuter before they becomesexually mature. If a female comes into heat and does notbreed, it can cause so much stress to her system that it can actuallykill her. The males become very aggressive and not very niceto have around if not neutered.

This little guy is not Baby. He doesn't "replace"her. But he sure has added a bit of spark back in my life,and I love him dearly in the very short time that I've had him with me.

I would strongly suggest to anyone even considering a skunkie to do a lot of research before moving on the think!

 

[Sarah]

Yeah, I'm not sure I could have a skunk. I'mpushing my luck in a suburban apartment with two rabbits. I just foundit really interesting. I've never heard of a skunk as a pet before.I've always been a big fan of PePe Le'Pew.

It's really cool of you to accept so many animals, and love themregardless of whatever their stigma may be in the world. It's quiteadmirable.

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

A lot of animals do not deserve the "stigma"attached to them. This especially includes theskunk. It is usually referred to as an "exotic"pet. But the skunk was already here when thisworld was discovered. And, the rabies thing is the bigstigma. I'm not going to downplay rabies!!! But,even the rabies vaccinations given to our dogs and cats here in the USis not all that effective. I understand that Canada has onethat is much more effective, but it has not been allowedintothis country. It may not even have been releasedfor public use in Canada...think it is being used in the wild to slowdown the spread of rabies.

The thing of it is that if my little skunkie should nip somebody, andthey go to the health authorities, my little guy would be seized andtested for rabies. There is only one way to test forrabies.....brain tissue.....dead skunk.....deadcat, dead dog,dead rabbit, dead whatever,to test for rabies. Babynipped me twice before she was spayed, just before she turned4 months old. Both times were about food. The firsttime, I didn't let go of her doggie bisquit fast enough. Thesecond time was on my lip. I had just eaten yogurt, whichthey get every day. Both episodes were over food and when shewas very young and still "grabby". Whenever I took heranyplace, or if someone was here, I always held her and people couldpet her, but, to protect her, I never let anyone else handleher. And here,almost 4 years later, I still don'thave rabies!

A lot of people have the mistaken conception that skunks are born withrabies.....that it can be passed from the mother to the baby thru theplacenta.....that it can be passed thru the milk. Nottrue. You, your pet, or anyone else can only contract rabiesifbitten byoreatingfromthe carcass of "something" that has rabies,ordied from rabies. This can be verified byvisiting with any vet.....as was verified by Baby's vet. But,in choosing a vet, the first question you ask is, "If my skunk shouldbite someone, while working on it, what will youdo?" In my case, my vet assured me, that for one thing, hewas already protected. If he hadn't been,Iwas going to hold her.

Crows and skunks receive a lot of ridicule, but out in the "wild", theyare sort of the "garbage collectors". (I raised 2 baby crows,too, from the stage of completely naked...not a sign of a feather onthem.) I'm just a regular push-over!!!

 

[Carolyn]

:dude: Delores,

What a beautiful post. Thank God it had a happy ending. Does your need to help all living beings survive have an end?

Thank you so much for this most educational post.

I took CPR courses when my niece and nephew were born, but never considered it for Tucker and Co.

What a valuable piece of advice you've given us. Thank you.

-Carolyn

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

Hey! Survival is very important to me,on a personal basis. I think the rest of it came from The ManUpstairs. My belief is that we are all here for a purpose ofsome kind. (However, I have no qualms about killing a spider,etc.!)

 

[batbunny]

aww! way to go delores!! bythe way-skunk...as in pet skunk or a wild one youre raising? i waslooking into getting one, but i couldnt find a breeder anywhere! fromwhat i understand, theyre just like kitties! id love to hear more!

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

Sorry, but whoever told you that skunks are just like kitties is all wet! Neither a puppy or a kitty be a skunk!!!!!

skunk-info.org(This site is call "oops", and you will see why! Cute!)

skunksaspets.com(Where I downloaded around 30 pages of info when Ihad Baby as a baby after I got her.)

stripedbandits (I just discovered this one.)

All you absolutely have to type in for an address is what I have, andyou will get to these three websites. I just tried it, and itworked. I have them marked as favorites. There's abig hoop-la going on in your state about any ownership of skunks, andyou will be able to read all about it on at least skunk-info.organd stripedbandits. I haven't checked outskunksaspets.com to see if they have info about PA.

Actually, there are not that many states that allow skunks.If anyone is remotely thinking along the lines of a skunk, please doyour research before you get one....."wild" or"domestic". (I loved one guys comment about wild vsdomestic.....If it's watching TV, it's not wild.".....or something likethat.)

 

[Sarah]

Batbunny, don't you have a sweet little hedgehog? How is that darlin' doing?

Dolores, I have this image of you now: You walk outside in the morningand birds land on your fingers. Little woodland creatures hang yourlaundry on the line. Very Walt Disney The animals are luckyto have a friend like you.

 

[Dolores Lindvall]

It's mulberry season here. I'd just as soon that the birds didn't "help" with my laundry on the clothes lines!!!!!